Saturday, January 30, 2016

Hillary: Doubts from a Believer


Let me start with saying words that will simply drive my mother mad (if you are anywhere near Victor Montana - you might hear her tortured "Aargh!" echoing across the lovely terrain) - I support Hillary Clinton in 2016.
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And yet, I have doubts.
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Not doubts with regards to Bernie Sanders - a man with great ideas and no chance of implementing them win or lose.
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And certainly no doubts with regards to the Republican race, which resembles a three legged race, except the pairs are tied facing opposite directions.
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And no doubts about whatever scandal of the day we are on now; Benghazi, Email Servergate, Whitewater, Travelgate, etc.  They are a succession of side-shows that she can handle, which I think is her personal biggest net positive.  She has been accused so often of being everything from a shrew to a doormat to the antichrist herself, that she harbors no illusions about Washington.
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She will go in with a clear focus on what can get done and what can't.
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And that is great.
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And sad.
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She is no Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan who can move crowds or followers and haters forward with their oratory.
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Perhaps that cannot happen anymore.  The media is too segmented to give an orator, even a great one - a single platform. And the snark of tweets and comments happen realtime with self-reinforcement.  President Obama had the gift of Oratory, and - once elected - rarely used it.  Maybe he realized it wouldn't help.
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She will go in (if elected) knowing that the Republican opposition in Washington has no strategy.  They are unified ONLY in their voracious hatred of Democrats - even when those same Democrats offer reheated Republican policies.  And so she will be competent - and hated.  Four more years of bile.
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On the other hand, she won't scapegoat gays or women (probably).  And I think her heart (while two sizes too small) is in the right place.